Margareth Mosquera
Arias B. & Associates is pleased to announce that Margareth J. Mosquera T. has joined the firm as Senior Associate
We are pleased to announce to our esteemed clients and friends the addition of Ms. Margareth Mosquera as the new Head of our Maritime Litigation Department.
Our aim...

Petros G. Doukas
A quick introduction to ancient Democracies and “Republicanism”
By Petros G. Doukas *
Heraclitus (late 6th cent.BC) said it all: “… all things happen according to strife and necessity” [DK22B80], and that “war is the father of all and king of...

Happy Easter
An Easter Day and note to remember
Happy Easter, He Has Risen!
Part of the Christian World Celebrates Easter today – particularly the Western so to speak Christians.
On a unique sunny day with temperatures soaring to 21C, instead of our classic Easter Sunday visit in Hampstead Heath, we*...

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Brexit delay may mean end of May, Implications of exit for UK and EU
Commentary: Brexit delay may mean end of May
By James Smith in London
The agreement struck by the EU on the UK’s Article 50 negotiating period was a difficult compromise, with few predicting the six-month extension. Theoretically,...

…and now back to the House of all Parliaments
BREXIT: …an extension to ride…
Just after midnight we learned that the EU27 granted UK a compromised six months flexible extension until the end of October 2019…
There were some French “second thoughts” but unanimity was there…
Let’s...

Capes dive yet again with the BDI@695 …sending a Mayday…
The BDI lost earlier on today only 14 points thanks to all the other dry indices’ performance and in particular that of the Panamaxes who managed to clinch 47 points and go over and above the 1,000 points threshold; Geopolitics in turmoil....

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BREXIT: The Ides of March?
Following our last night’s on BREXIT, we had once again a very perplexed result at the House of Commons today and we are now faced with an unprecedented continuation of a Byzantine style scenario on the BREXIT saga. With a 321 to 278 score MPs have rejected the...

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BREXIT: Twist and Shout
The romantics will definitely sing the Beatles song “Twist and Shout” – just read and paraphrase the lyrics and you will see what I mean. The hard “…rockers” will simply wonder by saying: “Who’s calling a fast one on the United Kingdom, eh?”
Whatever, it is...

John Faraclas
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) remained unchanged at 629 points “offering” a deep breath to all… Time, as per our titles ending, will tell… We still advise CAUTION! Geopolitics still messy and perplexed and MP Costis Hatzidakis of Greece’s opposition vice president of New Democracy...

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Commentary: Election muddies India’s outlook
By Prakash Sakpal in Singapore
Conditions are becoming murky in the lead up to India’s general election in May. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity is falling, and the losses of his BJP in state assembly and other by-elections...

John Faraclas opposite the place his used to work in 1974
Brexit? Business as usual! No fear!
John Faraclas takes a tour down his own memory lane; an unforgettable good little adventure…
The dubious work of propaganda and dirty party politics as well as international envy towards the United Kingdom...

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Commentary: Back to pre-1914 Fortress America
By Meghnad Desai in New Delhi
President Donald Trump has redefined the aims of US foreign policy. We are back to pre-1914 ‘Fortress America’. The US entered the first world war only because of the German U-boat sinking of the RMS Lusitania....

Commentary: British politics caught in zugzwang
By John Nugée in London
The various pro- and anti-Brexit camps in the House of Commons are all caught in a sort of zugzwang, to borrow the phrase from chess – they are safe if they do nothing, but if any camp forces a vote it may end up triggering exactly...

Global Economic & Market Outlook (December 19, 2018)
House of Commons to vote on Brexit deal after Christmas recess; potential voting outcomes
UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced that her government will bring the Brexit deal back to parliament the week commencing on 14 January. After failing...

Commentary: Trump’s trade policies backfiring
By Desmond Lachman in Washington
Something is going very wrong with the US administration’s effort to reduce the US trade deficit. It has been increasing steadily. It now stands at its highest level in the past 10 years and shows every sign of rising....

John Faraclas
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) was up 36 points earlier on today and 29 since last week’s closing of 1,372 points – despite earlier mild hiccups (11 and 12 of Dec). Thanks to the volatile and predictably unpredictable Capes, it managed to stay afloat and “offer” a possible Christmas...

Commentary: Power vacuum points to no-deal Brexit
Theresa May
By Joergen Oerstroem Moeller in Singapore
With her back to the wall, Theresa May seems to have forged a strategy to achieve her goals, however lofty or improbable they seem. If the opposition parties in parliament and those Conservatives who...

John Faraclas. Picture credits George Christakis
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) 11 points losses were considerably marginal given that yesterday the losses were almost double – 21 points down. Geopolitical uncertainties with the BREXIT taking more twists and turns. John Faraclas’ brief recap:
The Capes’...

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Commentary: AKK’s rise – France, euro repercussions
By David Marsh in London
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the new leader of Germany’s principal governing party, faces a complex struggle to impose her will on her fractious Christian Democratic Union. She will pursue a more conservative...

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Commentary: Preserving Britain’s place in the EEA
By David Owen in London
The UK intends to remain a member of the European Economic Area on the same grounds as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. There will be a deep free trade agreement in place on 30 March 2019 and no need to take recourse...

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December 2018 Vol.9 Ed.11
The state of globalisation
From the UK’s Brexit challenge and US unilateralism, to trade wars and European immigration concerns, the unifying theme that preoccupied liberal policy-makers in 2018 was the political threat to economic globalisation and how best to share...